TORDESILLAS, Spain — Motorists whipping along Spain’s A6 would never know this sleepy historic town once divided the world in two.
Wind back the clock more than a half of a millennium, and Spain’s “Catholic monarchs” were at the very center of Medieval European politics.
Spain and neighboring Portugal were at the vanguard of European exploration of the high seas. The end game was a sea route to the spice islands of Asia, and the race to monopolize the trade rewrote the global balance of power in the early 16th century.
And last week, I was taking a sip on my water bottle right outside the “Las Casas del Tratados,” a 15th century palace where Spain and Portugal signed a treaty that quite literally sliced the world into two halves.
The two nations drew a line down the middle of the Atlantic, with Portugal taking the eastern slice and all of the Indian Ocean, and Spain taking everything west into the Atlantic and eventually spilling into the Pacific.
Of course, no one bothered to tell the indigenous populations, let alone European rivals France, England or the Netherlands, but the Treaty of Tordesillas would dictate world politics all the way into the modern era. And today, that’s why Brazilians speak Portuguese, and why most of the rest of Latin America speaks Spanish.
This historic divide was an ideal starting point for my recent half-day gravel romp that traced the historical footsteps of Spain’s glory days and dove straight into the emerging wine region along the Rio Duero and the denominación de Origen Rueda, one of Spain’s many rich and diverse wine-growing areas.
History, wine, and bikes, the perfect cocktail.
Ruta del Vino — chasing the ‘rueda’
After crossing the Medieval bridge and the mighty Rio Duero, one of Spain’s major river systems, I pushed south along the edges of the Duero Valley.
Using my Gaia maps navigation system, I didn’t have a plotted route. I knew I wanted to make a big loop up and around Rueda, the buzzing town that’s the center of the wine-growing region. Other than that, I was picking my way along farm roads and paths that criss-cross the vineyards.
Some of Spain’s best and most famous vineyards stretch along the Duero. To the east, the more famous Rioja region skirts the Ebro Valley, but where the Rio Duero dumps out of the Cantabrian mountains and onto the plains of Spain’s northern meseta to push into Portugal, the vineyards along the upper and middle Duero are now rivaling the rioja wine in quality and price.
Most of the wines are deep, rich reds, such as Ribera del Duero and Toro, but Rueda is emerging as one of the fastest-growing regions renowned with its dry, crisp whites.
Some of the biggest and most famous Spanish wineries have set up shop, including Ramón Bilbao, Protos, and Marqués de Riscal, among dozens of local bodegas.
Locals have sketched out the Ruta del Vino de Rueda, a series of roads and trails that connect the major vineyards of the region. Its rocky soil, high altitude, and cool winds make for ideal vineyards.
My goal: Ride a nice loop between some of the bodegas, sample a bit of the local wine, and explore some of the endless gravel that splays out across the wide open valley.
Cycling in history’s footsteps
But first I had another stop in Tordesillas.
It’s easy to follow the footsteps of history in Spain. The peninsula has played a key role in human history for ages, all the way from the cave dwellings at Altamira to the rebirth of democracy in the post-Franco era. Along the way, the Phoenicians, the Romans, the Visigoths, and the Moors all took root before the “Catholic Kings” finished off the Reconquest in the late 15th century.
In addition to being the site where Spain and Portugal split the world in two, Tordesillas played host to another medieval drama that played out like an episode of Games of Thrones.
In what was the seemingly endless power tug-of-wars among Europe’s ruling elite, the death of Spain’s queen Isabela early in the 16th century left a power vacuum. The queen’s son had died, and so did the husband of her oldest surviving daughter. Juana was next in line, but powers behind the throne were pushing for a male heir.
Next in line was the queen’s grandson and Juana’s son, Charles, born in Gent and raised in Mechelen in far away Flanders. Juana was in the way. To solve the problem, they made her co-regent with the soon-to-be Carlos V who came to Spain to rule when he was only 15. Joana was declared insane, and was shipped off to a convent in Tordesillas — the Real Convento de Santa Clara — and she was locked away for the rest of her life.
I refilled my water bottle in the quiet plaza of the convent’s entrance, and wondered if “Juana La Loca” could enjoy the same views as I did overlooking the sweeping expanse of the Rio Duero and the vineyards that clogged the valley.
Wind, burros, and chorizo
There are more gravel roads in and around Rueda than paved ones, and that’s a good thing for the would-be adventurer.
Some routes are sign-posted and many navigation devices will have plotted routes, but I still prefer to ride without following blips on a my iPhone. Call me old-school, but I like riding with a sense of discovery.
After tracing the edge of the Duero, I turned south and rode through a deep grove of pines. I wasn’t alone. There were at least 20 of the distinctive zamorano leonés donkeys. Their luxurious brown coats and floppy ears helped them endure the harsh Spanish winters on the meseta.
After our one-way conversation ended, I pushed on toward Rueda. It was about 20km zig-zagging through the vineyards, with a few hands working the vines that already started to bloom after a dormant winter. The surrounding fields were brilliantly green following the recent rains.
A stop at the Protos and Marqués de Riscal bodegas found them both closed for lunch. I took the clue, rolled into Rueda and enjoyed a steaming plate of “huevos rotos” topped with tangy Spanish sausage. And some local wine, of course.
It was all downhill back to my car waiting at the Rio Duero. The time moves slower out on the meseta. I’ll be back for the full bodega experience.
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